South Korean artistic swimmer Hur Yoon-seo reached the final of the women's solo free event at the world championships Monday, in pursuit of a historic medal later this week.
In this AFP photo, Hur Yoon-seo of South Korea competes in the preliminary of the women's solo free artistic swimming event during the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 17, 2023. (Yonhap)
In this AFP photo, Hur Yoon-seo of South Korea competes in the preliminary of the women's solo free artistic swimming event during the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 17, 2023. (Yonhap)
Hur ranked fourth in the preliminary stage of the competition at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on Monday, with 185.9500 points. The top 12 swimmers qualified for the final, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Hur finished 13.5334 points back of the third-placed swimmer, Evangelia Platanioti of Greece, the 2022 world bronze medalist.
Yukiko Inui of Japan, the defending world champion, is the leader with 253.1853 points, followed by Kate Shortman of Britain at 213.8417 points.
Hur will try to become the first South Korean artistic swimmer to win a world championships medal. Since the current scoring system came into place in 2013, Hur is the first South Korean to reach the final of the women's solo free in artistic swimming.
On Saturday, Hur's duet partner, Lee Ri-young, finished ninth in the solo technical final, tying for the best performance by a South Korean artistic swimmer at the world championships.
Hur and Lee, though, missed out on the final in the duet technical, as they finished 13th in the preliminary Friday, with the top dozen advancing to the final.
Hur, 17, made her world championships debut last year in the duet event with Lee. She is competing in a solo discipline for the first time this month in Fukuoka.
Source: Yonhap News Agency